Spark Ads With UGC: How the Ad Runs Through the Creator's Account

With a Spark Ad, the brand runs the ad through the creator’s TikTok post instead of uploading the video itself. To do this, the creator generates a code in the app and passes it to the brand, and the brand redeems it in TikTok Ads Manager. The ad then runs with the creator’s profile, the comment section and the sound of the original post. As of 3 October 2026, checked against TikTok’s help pages.

What Spark Ads are and why brands run UGC through them

According to TikTok, Spark Ads are a native ad format that uses organic TikTok posts for advertising. Views, comments, shares, likes and new followers gained from the promotion are attributed to the original post. Users can open the creator’s profile, follow the account or open the sound used in the video. With a classic ad based on your own upload, the click instead goes straight to the brand’s landing page, without this link to the creator’s profile.

This matters for UGC because the video keeps its origin. The ad appears with the profile of a real person rather than with the brand as the sender. Spark Ads are therefore an option when a campaign is meant to run on paid reach and keep the link to the creator.

Other platforms have similar routes. On Meta, ads that run through the creator’s profile are called Partnership Ads, and on 23 September 2026 YouTube introduced a code for sponsored videos, see YouTube Creator Partnerships: Creators Give Brands Access With a Code.

Requirements

Two things need to be settled before the ad goes live.

First, the usage rights. Spark Ads are a separate point in the rights agreement, because the creator’s account is involved, not just the video material. My packages include organic and paid usage for twelve months, and Spark Ads through my TikTok account are available on request and with a separate approval. Which six points should be settled overall is covered in UGC Usage Rights: The Checklist Before You Book.

Second, the video itself. According to TikTok, a video used as a Spark Ad can be at most ten minutes long. For organic videos, TikTok sets no requirements for aspect ratio, resolution, file type or bitrate. For a UGC video that was shot for TikTok anyway, the limit is not an issue in practice. How length and format are set in the briefing is covered in A UGC Briefing That Works.

Step by step: generate the code, share it, redeem it in Ads Manager

The process is split between two sides. The buttons below are named as they appear in TikTok’s English guide.

What the creator does

She generates the code in the TikTok app. According to TikTok’s guide, this works via the three dots on the video, the Ad settings icon and the Generate button. The result is a post code, which the creator sends to the brand.

What the brand does

The brand redeems the code in TikTok Ads Manager. The route goes through the Campaign tab, the +Create button, the choice of campaign objective and the campaign and ad group settings. In the Ad creatives section (Creative assets on some accounts), the brand clicks + Add videos or images, selects the TikTok posts tab and enters the code via Add post. According to TikTok, up to 20 video codes can be authorized in one go when several creator videos are meant to go into the campaign at the same time.

Authorization period

The creator chooses the duration in the post’s ad settings, where she also generates the code. According to another TikTok guide, the options are 7, 30, 60 or 365 days. According to TikTok, Ads Manager shows the authorization period beneath each redeemed post.

The brand and the creator should therefore agree on the duration before the code is generated, ideally in the briefing together with the other arrangements on paid usage. Before the campaign starts, the brand checks the period for every single code in Ads Manager instead of relying on an assumed duration.

Spark Ads or your own upload

Both routes are possible, but they answer different questions. A Spark Ad carries the creator’s profile with it, including the comment section and the follow button, and suits campaigns where this link to the person is part of the message. Your own upload leads straight to the brand’s landing page and suits ads that are fully geared towards conversion, where users should not wander off to the creator’s profile.

For hook tests, as I describe them in UGC Video for Brands, your own upload is the better fit. Several openings run in parallel there, and the link to the account is secondary. If a single video is meant to run with the creator’s profile, Spark Ads fit better.

Three points before approving the code

Both sides should know three points from TikTok’s guide before the code is sent.

The caption is locked afterwards. Once the post has been authorized, the caption can no longer be edited. Anyone who still wants to change it does so before approving the code.

A private video becomes public. As soon as a private video is used in a campaign, it becomes public, and its privacy status cannot be changed during the promotion. This mainly affects test uploads that were never meant to be public.

The code is tied to the ads. A video code can only be deleted once all ads using it have been deleted. Pausing them is not enough.

These three points belong in the process agreed with the brand, not in a follow-up question once the campaign is already running. How such a process looks from booking to handover is covered in Booking a UGC Creator: How the Collaboration Works.

More on this topic

• UGC Usage Rights: The Checklist Before You Book
• UGC Video for Brands: Authentic Ad Videos Instead of Polished Spots
• Booking a UGC Creator: How the Collaboration Works
• A UGC Briefing That Works: A Template to Copy